


Wu Xing

by erythea



Category: Fate/Grand Order
Genre: FGO JP spoilers, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2020-09-26 10:43:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20388406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erythea/pseuds/erythea
Summary: A collection of character-centric drabbles (?) with the five phases/elements as a theme.





	1. Yan Qing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't written fic in a long time, so I guess this is a messy warm-up? Meant to be read with some chronological order in mind! Li Shuwen vs. Yan Qing part 2: electric boogaloo happened in my head somehow. Shh, the Shimosa manga told me how these things work.

## wood

Like the persimmon trees in the courtyard, you toiled until you bore fruit. Then your lord took the fruit from your branches. Then he ate of your labors and never thanked you. Humans are no different from crows. They tear your flesh and drink you dry. They pick your seeds and spit them out. There is no gratitude for this course of nature. All of it is written as you were taught: a servant should listen to his master. A son should listen to his father. You were taken from the dirt, so to the dirt you must return. Your lord is waiting.

## fire

Chaldea’s master is scarlet in your grasp, fever rising with every pulse you can feel beneath your hand around her slender neck. What you once refused, you are here to take. She makes it so easy. Stupid. This is Kabukicho. People come and come – you know what they’re here for. Not that you’re into this smoke and sweat and frantic rhythm. You want what the crows had: jade blood and sweet flesh, gold and schadenfreude. Yet when Ritsuka tightens, you unravel. You taste the salt on each other’s lips. You feel the regrets that slipped through each other's fingers. You moan into her mouth and she asks, does it hurt, is it good, do you trust me?

## earth

In the end, you are tired. Your fingers claw through the dirt until there is no dirt to hold. The soil blends with the ink of your tattooed skin. Tears spill from your cheeks, and you wonder why all the goodness of the land is wasted on you. You are greedy. Your roots break into the earth so you can drink from it. You cling to your master so you can take from her. You remember what it’s like to get on all fours and beg, don’t you? Now roll over and play dead. You have to make her want it.

## metal

“We do not need you,” say the wheat fields. “We do not want you,” declare the capital gates. But your fists are restless. The emperor watches over the land that once held you to its breast and looks at your ghost in disdain. The captain of the guard’s chest does not swell with excitement or pride. You hide behind another rueful smile. The only warriors here are terracotta, but you are flesh and bone. Not words on a page – a story for the ages. You get into position, ready for the next strike–

## water

You can rest now, so you take the shape of whoever fits into Ritsuka’s arms. She wants you, though. Not legendary kings or lovely queens. Their company can be weighed in gold, but you are her servant. She doesn’t care for your margins or origins or evils within. With her, you are the same. Of course, you could not be any worse, but she still looks at you with stars in her eyes. You never want to disappoint, so you flow into this vessel she calls hero, filling every space until you have erased all pockets of doubt. You find that there are none. The crows have already fled. You are left with nothing but the sweetness of the earth, and for once in your life, you believe you deserve it.


	2. Yang Guifei

## wood

The plum blossoms are in full bloom and they are too beautiful. Soft, delicate, yet resilient in the face of adversity: a waning love. If only she could close the bloom in her hand and scatter it to the wind. If only she could banish it and let only the earth know its name. But after spilling plum blossom blood across Chang'an snow, she has begun to resemble it. The rosy cheeks in Chaldea's snow. The hardy wood in the Wandering Sea’s storm. Even now she clings to the frostbitten soil as she had that winter, sobbing, screaming, knowing it had nothing when she had uprooted them all.

## earth

The fruit she loves is not forbidden. It grows south of the capital, juicy and sour. Oh, what she would give to taste it again! Each bite is a summer rain on days she can’t have all of his affection. She has asked for it many times from the man in red, but not now. The line is long, and the mouths to feed are many.

## water

Music flows throughout the corridors and lures her into the room of talent and wonder. Her delight when the genius joins her melody. Her surprise when the ruffian’s tune matches her harmony. “We were born under the same star,” he says, but the empires and eternities that escaped them, he leaves in the margins.

## fire

The sweet, awful cacophony of her flute engulfs everything in her blue flame. This is how she lost everything, but see? It is only painful because all she has consumed on this earth casts a shadow on what she hasn’t. She watches it play the same song, its lament an echo that haunts her through the ages, and she cannot lie dreaming.

## metal

Greek queens renounce their beauty as they brandish their weapons. Generals of her motherland hide it behind horned masks. But she, whose beauty they call a title of her own, simply says you must look elsewhere. Surely there is a youth who won’t forge herself into a blade and divide a nation—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's not much material in FGO to work with at this point, but I've always been fascinated by her as a historical figure! Spot the Servant cameos. :)


	3. Xuanzang Sanzang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> References and spoilers for Camelot if you haven't read that one.

## water

The lotus rises from murky waters untainted but you still feel the mud clinging to your skin. The way is not meant to wash you. It guides you to where the sun sets, blood and sweat on the horizon. You will know your destination when you hear the cicadas cry.

## fire

Gawain said you reminded him of his sister. You think you liked that, but her seat was empty. The sun above him was not in his eyes. Nor was it in this castle; the sunlight bounced off the walls to shine its splendor at those it left wanting until they turned to ashes. The Lion King said envy was a sin. Buddha wanted nothing so you supposed that was true, but was it wrong to ask for bread? The Pharaoh's friend is nowhere to be found.

## metal

The danger is like a band of gold around your head. You know what you must do. Touta won't cry, but you know what it's like to be abandoned. Don't cry. This is not a farewell when you can see everything so clearly. Everything you need is in the palm of your hand. One last push, and you are gone to the other shore.

## wood

You need more paper. Da Vinci says they've gone digital. That's not your point. You want the memory to be tangible. After all the ghosts have gone, your master will inherit the fruit of your labor and remember what you taught them — the sight, sound and feel of it.

## earth

For a cicada, your life is a short one. You don't look for Luoyang anymore. Chaldea is the cloud that carries you. You emerge from its soil; your winter is over. The light is here at last and you call the earth to witness it.


End file.
